Adrian McComb is the CEO of the Council of Private Higher Education Inc. (COPHE) which he established in 1998 to advocate for sound policy in higher education and recognition of the contribution of the private sector. Now COPHE members enrol more than half the students in the private higher education sector in Australia.

Prior to COPHE, he was instrumental in establishing MCSI, an innovative private higher education institution in Sydney. He earlier established the digital map business which was later rebranded and developed as Whereis by Telstra. Adrian also works with several not-for-profit companies associated with Ibex International Associates which seeks to alleviate poverty in the developing world through effective small businesses. Eighteen years of his earlier working life was spent with multinational educational publishers.

Alexander has has led online learning companies for more than two decades including executive posts with global online education company NextEd (Vice President, IT), the UNSW (CTO ETC), LMS developer e-cademy (CTO and Public Company Board Director) and Androgogic for the last 9 years as Principal Ed Tech and CEO. In that time he has led the implementation of Educational Technology infrastructure installations for over 250 institutions and is ultimately responsible for Androgogic's approximately 1 million hosted learners.

Assessment in online learning has gone from strength to strength as tools and processes have matured over the 20 or so years that web based educational technologies have been in the market. Change and improvement in this area have been a constant in fact. Alexander will look at this change and specifically the emergent abilities to extend assessment beyond a structured activity in a structured course, taking it to the workplace and moving the process of learning closer to real vocational engagement.

Anne is passionate about young people, their potential and their future. As a result she actively seeks to challenge and reinvent the paradigm of ‘school’, as a place that inspires and motivates young minds to be lifelong learners.

Working at Northern Beaches Christian School, Anne is Director of Business Development at SCIL, developing professional learning programs and consulting services for educators and leaders who come to the school from across Australia and around the world. Visitors want to see the innovative learning spaces in action and explore the forward-thinking practices at NBCS to see how it can be applied to their own context. Along with the principal of NBCS, Stephen Harris, Anne co-hosts international study tours to Europe, UK and North America.

She started her career as a primary years teacher in Sydney independent schools. Anne has worked in community development and was the executive officer for an independent school peak body, responsible for registration and accreditation of member schools.

Anne writes and speaks on the subjects of spaces for learning especially from an international perspective, innovation and change, culture, and leadership. She seeks to change mindsets and equip people with the skills that help them successfully navigate the changing landscape of the 21st century.

Asheley Jones has held the position of Head of Education and Workforce Development for the ACS for the last two years. In the last five years, Ms Jones has identified and overseen the development of several work readiness programs; including a joint partnership with the University of Melbourne to embed a professional practice 25-credit two-unit industry-based, mentored internship work readiness element into a Masters of Information Systems. A second project involved the development of a Graduate Certificate in Professional Practice in conjunction with Federation University and IBM that allows international master’s software engineer graduates a one-year paid internship within the IBM software business unit. This initiative provided a unique partnering between industry, a professional body and higher education. These two initiatives led to the award of a high commendation by the Victorian State Government in the International Education Awards for innovative educational partnering.

An active researcher who has written extensively on the generic skills required for entry into the Australian workforce, Ms Jones is currently enrolled in a Doctorate of Business Administration at Victoria University. Recent research projects have included grants from the Australian Council of ICT Deans to investigate the role of capability frameworks within ICT HE curricula, as well as the Joint Accounting Bodies (JAB) to examine the role of SMIPA (an accounting Professional Year Program) in the identification of generic skills acquired by SMIPA graduates to aid employability within the Australian accounting profession. More recently, Asheley was invited to participate in the submission of an ARC Linkage Grant entitled “Cultural perspectives, credentialism and graduate employability in global labour markets”

Christine Ewan is a former Dean of Health and Behavioural Sciences and PVC(A) at the University of Wollongong and DVC (education) at the University of Western Sydney.

Christine is undertaking a Higher Education Standards Panel Research Fellowship to facilitate a national conversation, informed by existing national and international practice, on the ways in which institutions can demonstrate to themselves and the regulator that their engagement in alternative, disaggregated and distributed delivery methods for award courses is compliant with the Higher Education Standards Framework. Details of the Fellowship and ways in which input can be provided are available on (http://www.hestandards.gov.au/olt-fellow-request-for-information).

Denise Meyerson heads up Management Consultancy International (MCI) where she consults with global brands on people, culture, values and business performance needs. MCI, which has just been placed on the BRW list as #23 on Australia’s most innovative companies, is a multi-award winning Registered Training Organisation that designs and delivers innovative training to ensure that companies get the best outcome from their training budget.

Denise has been involved in the corporate training industry for over 23 years and has served in a range of capacities. She holds a Masters Degree as well as a PhD in English and has been appointed an honorary member of City and Guilds, the largest examining body in the UK, in recognition of her significant involvement in and contribution to vocational training and education. Denise a finalist for Telstra Business Woman of the year

Denise also holds a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment as well as Diplomas in Business, Training and Assessment Systems, journalism and public relations. She is a master trainer of the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY methodology and uses this powerful process to ensure that teams perform at their best. She has also recently returned from attending the Women in Leadership Forum at Harvard Business School.

Denise’s current and past clients include top Australian and internationally recognised organizations such as Telstra, Qantas and Australia’s largest logistics company, Toll Holdings, as well as a wide spectrum of companies in all areas of the economy. She has ensured that her company Management Consultancy International is the AHRI HR Provider of the Year and also features on the BRW 2012 List as one of Australia’s 30 most innovative companies.

Denise is invited to speak at several conferences annually both in Australia and internationally and she values the opportunity to share her insights to help people play to their strengths. She has also presented at the prestigious Training 2013 conference in Orlando, USA as well as at the LEGO IDEA day event in Denmark. Denise is the author of ‘Better, Best, Brilliant’, the essential guide for trainers and facilitators to ensure that all learning experiences have that special ‘shine’ factor.

Branch Manager,
Office for Learning and Teaching Higher Education Reform and Support Group Department of Education

Di has worked for the Australian Public Service for over 25 years, primarily within the Department of Education.

Di has recently embraced the role of Branch Manager of the Office for Learning and Teaching supporting policy and programmes to develop capability and support for the recognition of excellence in learning and teaching in higher education.

Previous roles have included strategic policy advice on international education and education and training relationships with key countries in North Asia, the Americas and Europe; and assisting in the implementation of both the Knight review of student visas and COAG’s International Student Strategy for Australia. Di has also managed of Commonwealth and state-territory relationships in school reform and has led policy and program development in civics education, early childhood education, literacy, numeracy and science education. Di has managed the secretariats of a number of national reviews including the Teaching of Science, Technology and Mathematics and the Review of Literacy Teaching.

Prior to Di’s public service career, she was a teacher in high schools, colleges and universities.

Eric Mazur is the Balkanski Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Harvard University and Area Dean of Applied Physics. An internationally recognized scientist and researcher, he leads a vigorous research program in optical physics and supervises one of the largest research groups in the Physics Department at Harvard University. Mazur founded several companies and plays an active role in industry. He has served the OSA previously as Director-at-large.

Dr. Mazur came to Harvard University in 1982 after obtaining his Ph.D. at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. In 1984 he joined the faculty and obtained tenure six years later. Dr. Mazur has made important contributions to spectroscopy, light scattering, the interaction of ultrashort laser pulses with materials, and nanophotonics. Dr. Mazur received an Honorary Doctorate from the Ecole Polytechnique and the University of Montreal (2008) and holds Honorary Professorships from Beijing University of Technology, Beijing Normal University, and the Institute of Semiconductor Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Eric Mazur has received numerous awards, including the Esther Hoffman Beller award from the Optical Society of America and the Millikan Medal from the American Association of Physics Teachers. In 2014 Mazur became the inaugural recipient of the Minerva Prize for Advancements in Higher Education. He is Fellow of the Optical Society of America and Fellow of the American Physical Society. He is a Member of the Royal Academy of Sciences of the Netherlands and a Member of the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities. He has held appointments as Visiting Professor or Distinguished Lecturer at Princeton University, Vanderbilt University, the University of Leuven in Belgium, National Taiwan University in Taiwan, Carnegie Mellon University, and Hong Kong University.

Dr. Mazur has served on numerous committees and councils, including advisory and visiting committees for the National Science Foundation, and has chaired and organized national and international scientific conferences. He serves as consultant to industry in the electronics and telecommunications industry. In 2006 he founded SiOnyx, a company that is commercializing black silicon, a new form of silicon developed in Mazur's laboratory. Mazur is currently Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board for SiOnyx. In 2011 he founded Learning Catalytics, a company that uses data analytics to improve learning in the classroom.

Senior Manager,
Research and Development at Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA)

Dr Goran Lazendic is Senior Manager, Research and Development at Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). Goran holds a PhD. in Cognitive Psychology from the University of New South Wales (UNSW). He commenced his research in the field of educational measurement and large-scale assessments at Educational Assessment Australia, a not-for-profit enterprise owned by the UNSW. In 2010, he joined ACARA and took over the responsibility for the development and implementation of psychometric analyses and national reporting for the National Assessment Program (NAP) including the National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) and NAP sample programs.

Goran spearheaded the development of the ACARA’s research program to assist transition of NAPLAN to a computer-based assessment and directed is implementation. The main goal of this research is to explore the extent to which digital technologies can be used to enhance, broaden and diversify future NAPLAN assessments.

Jim Tognolini is Distinguished Research Scientist, Pearson Assessment Centre. He is a Professorial Fellow at Wollongong University (Australia); Adjunct Professor of Education at the University of Western Australia; and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Sydney. He is formally a Research Director with the Australian Council of Educational Research (ACER).

In his current position at Pearson he is responsible for raising the international academic profile of Pearson through direct involvement in the development of senior-level relationships; and coordinating research across the company including supporting Pearson’s endowments and the Pearson Foundation Research Fund.

He is a consultant in assessment and educational measurement for the Malaysian Examinations Syndicate; the Central Board of Secondary education in India; the Jordanian Examinations Department; the New Zealand Qualifications Authority; the Abu Dhabi Education Council; the UAE Ministry of Education; the Indonesian Ministry of Education; and many more countries. He has extensive experience in liaising with representatives at all levels of government and educational organisations within Australia and overseas on assessment, standards and particularly the use of measurement information in informing system level planning; monitoring of standards; and, utilising data for improving school level teaching and learning.

Jim Tognolini’s specialist research and educational evaluation work focuses primarily on assessment, measurement and psychometrics, specifically Rasch measurement. Much of his inquiry and professional work has pursued four major themes: (1) the refinement and application of Rasch Models to the assessment of social outcomes of education; (2) the development of computer adaptive testing and the associated construction of test items and banks; (3) equating stability in educational measurement; and (4) standards referencing, using measurement to establish and validate standards.

Matthew drives the TILT (Technology enabled Innovations in Learning & Teaching) Initiative for GLOBAL MINDSET. He has been active in identifying and implementing innovative uses of technology in education for over 25 years through his own companies and with leading distributors, manufacturers, publishers, teachers, lecturers and researchers in the field.

He has worked in over 20 countries visiting schools, universities, industry partners and research labs particularly throughout Australia and Asia. His experience founding a Sydney based international college led to interest in measuring student and teacher outcomes and an association with University of Melbourne Learning Environments and Research Network and the Faculties of Education and Architecture.

He successfully introduced a disruptive innovation to Australia & New Zealand that offered teachers instant face-to-face wireless feedback, which still has a leading role more than 10 years later. At Keepad Interactive, he aligned innovative learning and teaching practices with a full range of interactive hardware products with an early focus on ‘Peer Instruction’ through work with Professor Eric Mazur, Harvard.

As the focus of EdTech moved from hardware to software, he joined McGraw Hill Higher Education as Enterprise Solutions Manager, Australia and New Zealand and saw first hand the benefits of personalised and adaptive learning for University T&L Departments across Australia & New Zealand and highlighted the emerging trends in digital publishing and data analytics that give the lecturer immediate feedback on student progress.

Having developed a skill for picking high performing teams and technologies, Matthew hopes to use his extensive network of educator and industry contacts to connect leading players and highlight the issues holding back learning improvements. An outcome that would also make our export education sector more responsive and profitable.

Michael Staton is a Partner at Learn Capital. For five years, he has worked with industry leading companies, such as Dev Bootcamp, Quizlet, and Goalbook. He is the founder and former CEO of Inigral, now rebranded Uversity, the pioneer of Social Enrollment Management technology in Higher Education. For Inigral, Michael secured the first ever venture investment from the Gates Foundation into a private company. Because of his years as a public school teacher and his intuitive understanding of K12 education, Michael served as a Venture Partner and still serves as a Community Advisor to NewSchools Venture Fund’s EdTech Portfolio. Michael was declared a top one hundred innovator by the Chronicle of Higher Education, and he is on the advisory board of SxSW EDU and the Higher Education Working Group of the American Enterprise Institute.

Mohamad Jebara is the founder and CEO of Mathspace. Prior to founding Mathspace Mohamad was a partner at Optiver, Australia's leading derivative trading firm, where he headed the largest of their three trading teams as well as leading the "Robot trader" project.

He left Optiver in 2010 to pursue his passion for Mathematics and for teaching it to students. He believes strongly in the use of technology and data to empower teachers and is an advocate of blended learning and the flipped classroom.

Professor Nick Wailes, Associate Dean (Digital & Innovation), is responsible for leading the digital transformation of the UNSW Business School, he is also Director AGSM Online. Nick works in the digital space, enhancing the student learning experience across the Business School through new technologies. Prior to Nick’s appointment as Associate Dean (Digital & Innovation) he was Director of the MBT and AGSM Online; he also has extensive experience gained while Director of the MBA program at the University of Sydney.

His research has focused on technology and organisational change. He has also conducted research in international and comparative human resource management and strategic management.

Pablo Garcia owns several technology businesses in Australia and New Zealand. Behind Pablo's decade long involvement with ICT in learning, is a background including developing technologies for gaming, healthcare and alternative energy. Pablo has driven the development of the NZ made 2Touch interactive whiteboard and the Workbook whiteboarding and collaboration software. Today Pablo's team designs and delivers the Xorro suite of web-based audience participation solutions. Holding a Masters in Engineering and an MBA, Pablo can hold his own in most physics classrooms.... but these days he focuses his time as an enthusiastic advocate for solutions and practices which open students' and educators' learning horizons.

He is Managing Director of GLOBAL MINDSET, thought leading research and consulting company heavily involved in all aspects of virtual & global services, & global sourcing

With over 25 years of executive & management experience across number of industries, Pradeep has been Leader for IBM GBS Australia and New Zealand (A/NZ) leveraging India, China, Philippines, Vietnam, Egypt, Romania, Brazil & Argentina for A/NZ . He has worked on assignments involving IBM, Australian Trade Commission, Optus, Westpac, Qantas, ING, Crompton Greaves etc

He is also Chairperson, Branding & Treasurer of IITian Association of Australia (IITAA), Chairman of Royal Star, Global Executive Member at IIT Delhi AA, & Director (Consulting) at Mindfields Consulting.

He is mentor at UNSW, AIBC & other places. Pradeep did his MBA from AGSM (UNSW), M.Sc, Computer Science from UTS, & B Tech from IIT Delhi.

Ray Fleming is the Industry Market Development Manager for Education in Microsoft Australia, and has spent 25 years working within the education ICT industry. Previously Ray was the Education Marketing Manager for Microsoft UK, and senior manager at a number of UK Education ICT companies. Much of Ray’s work involves bridging the gap between the technology industry and education – helping each side to better understand the other, and creating stories that help both sides to discuss the impact that ICT could have upon education in the future.

Professor Robert Fitzgerald is Director of the INSPIRE Centre and Associate Dean (Innovation) in the Faculty of Education, Science, Technology and Mathematics at the University of Canberra. He has been a leader and innovator in the field of Information and Communication Technology Education for over 24 years working across schools and universities in Australia and Hong Kong. He is internationally recognized for his research and development work on computer-based learning, social media in education and mobile learning. Robert leads the ICT component of a large agricultural project in Pakistan and is a chief-investigator on two national research projects on augmented reality in higher education and the development of location-based education services in cultural institutions.

Rowan is an educator, entrepreneur & innovator who has spent the last 8 years researching the key strategies used by Australia's top students to create academic success. Along the way he has broken ground on a number of Australian firsts, including launching Australia's first student generated ranking system of Australian universities, bringing the Khan Academy model to NSW and launching EduHack the first education focused hackathon in Australia. Rowan's work has been viewed close to 1 million times on Youtube and he's been named one of Anthill Magazines "30 Under 30" Entrepreneurs in Australia. Rowan is passionate about the role that design & technology can play in making learning student centric, engaging and authentic. This passionate lies at the heart of the work Rowan does with the talented team at myEd who have collaborated with students, teachers, schools & universities to co-create a next gen learning platform that removes a one size fits all approach in classrooms.

Sandra leads a team of people across the institution who contribute to inspiring, designing, producing, marketing, evaluating and running the Melbourne University MOOC Assessment and Teaching of 21 Century Skills.

She undertaking research on the potential of learning analytics to support measurement and assessment of the learning skills of MOOC participants, and the capacity of MOOCs to support higher order learning.

Sandra is an experienced company director, publisher and business operator working in the area of education. She has started-up and taken to market three of her own companies. She has worked at senior executive level in large multi-national companies and in government. She has served as director or committee member for a wide range of organisations, including large and small, for profit and not-for-profit, Australian and multi-national, commercial and government. Her current interests are in consumer affairs; application of online, digital and network technologies to publishing and education; and organisational governance and management.

Srinivas has over 18 years of experience in working with data on various Business Intelligence platforms. He has a strong understanding and in-depth experience of data models and architecture, which enables Srini to play with data to come up with real world data models for business problems. He has extensive experience in implementing new technologies is an outcome of his passion for learning the latest and greatest in the field of Business Intelligence. When Srini is not devising and designing sophisticated models and making meaning out of data, he enjoys cricket – irrespective of whether he is playing the game or watching it, and in his case, may be even analyzing it!

Steve is Dean of the Engineering Institute of Technology which provides accredited advanced and graduate diplomas to over 1500 students per year throughout the world using remote labs, video and web conferencing technologies. Latterly the EIT has also commenced offering a Master of Engineering program. He is part time Technical Director of the sister company, IDC Technologies, which has trained over 500,000 engineering professionals on over 300 different subjects throughout the world over the past two decades. He founded both companies which have a staff complement of over 200 engineering professionals and support staff throughout the world with offices ranging from Australia, South Africa, the UK, USA, Malaysia to India.

Theo Dawson, Ph.D. (U.C. Berkeley) is the founder and Executive Director of Lectica, Inc. Her award-winning dissertation presented a new approach to measuring learning and describing learning pathways. For 20 years, Dawson has focused on increasing the effectiveness of adult and K-16 learning by developing an alternative approach to large-scale educational testing. She is the author of numerous articles, presentations, book chapters, and papers on issues related to human development and assessment.